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In January 2019, a man named Kyle Krause announced his plans to bring a United Soccer League Championship team to Des Moines, Iowa. This project included a new $60 million stadium (early draft documents show the taxpayer paying $45 million of the $60 million). Over the next few years, this project would dangle around because of disagreements between the owner and local governments. Meanwhile, local taxpayers were told very little of the actual details.

Today, Boston 26 argues that the city is in “jeopardy” of losing the matches unless $20 million in taxpayer money is given to them. Keep in mind that Boston 26 was first trying to demand almost $40 million but they have since brought that down to $20 million mark. But didn't Boston 26 say they wouldn't ask taxpayers for help? That everything was already in place?

Last year, local taxpayers provided Leonsis with $515 million of taxpayer money to purchase and renovate the arena. Washington, DC, an area that was deep into an economic crisis last year and still is this year, gave a man with a net worth of $4 billion that amount of money? In fact, why on earth is DC buying the arena? Oh, that is right..."so Leonsis and his partners won't have to pay taxes on the $515 million the city is giving them." When someone brought up the absurdity of this entire transaction, Leonsis claimed that he "shouldn't have to defend it" since this is "strategically like the right thing to do"? Great.

This week, the city of San Antonio, Texas, voted to move forward with the November election that will decide the fate of the $1.3 billion arena (and other projects), called Project Marvel. This week, the team contacted every media outlet that it could find to discuss how great this deal was for the city. So residents heard that this deal will create $10 billion in direct spending! Or that it will create $350 million in new taxes for the city! Sounds great. Except, it is all bull. These numbers come from a CSL International report that the Spurs paid for.

In the NBA, the value of teams is rising at a rather insane pace. In 2006, the current owners of the Thunder bought the team for $350M. Now, the value of the team hovers around $3.5B. But that doesn't matter because these owners are committed to the area. Right? Some have even claimed that these owners bring a “tremendous selflessness” towards the team and city.

Washington University in St. Louis wrote a piece titled “Stadiums don’t have to be a drain on taxpayer dollars − 4 lessons from St. Louis”. This article was pushed to any outlet willing to publish it. Here it is retitled “St. Louis MLS Stadium Offers Alternative to Taxpayer-Funded Sports Venues.” Here are the authors pushing the article in local newspaper comment sections titled “How to build a stadium and keep taxpayers happy.” I have to read this article and understand how these Saints owners did the financially impossible. The article makes sure to include just how much money professional teams demand from taxpayers (almost $35 billion since 2000) while also writing that rarely do these new venues create jobs, boost local businesses, or attract substantial new tourists.

Just last year, the FCCFA spent $13.1 million in taxpayer money on arena projects such as a roof replacement, a cooling tower installation, a fire alarm system replacement and more. Yet if we come back to today, the FCCFA executive directory admits that recently released plans are “still being worked out” in negotiations that have involved the “team, its private partners and city, Franklin County and state officials”...just not the public. When asked by WOSU about the finances of these upgrades, the GM of the arena told them that the FCCFA was hopeful about the state of Ohio kicking in about $100 million for these upgrades. It is interesting how the GM proceeds to then say that the rest of the money would be provided through “some private funding”, yet then puts forward several scenarios where taxpayers would, in fact, be paying for the upgrades. At least casino revenues have come roaring back and can finally support the arena's operating expenses, right? Well, no…in fact, casino taxes “have slowed, showing very little growth over the past couple of years”.

For those who don't know, Levi Stadium in Santa Clara was selected to be one of 16 cities hosting World Cup games in 2026. The six games at Levi Stadium will be played between June 13 and July 1 of next year. Considering how contentious the history has been between the San Francisco 49ers and the city of Santa Clara, I figured something would blow up with this event. Then I recently saw this headline in the San Jose spotlight (“Santa Clara isn’t spending taxpayer money on World Cup upgrades”) and was a bit intrigued. In the article, the author claims to have done a “data analysis” on the event while also compiling “government budgets, meeting recordings and reporting from local news outlets nationwide” to see if any taxpayer money would be spent to facilitate the World Cup. The results of this deep dive found that Santa Clara would not be “breaking the bank” with the FIFA games. Additionally, as the article points out, a 2010 law called Measure J does not allow the city's general fund to be used for sports-related expenses.

When the Kansas City Royals tried to garner some support for the sales tax vote last year, they paid a company, Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago-based real estate company, to write and release an economic impact report on a potential ballpark. But, it didn't take long for problems to come out of this idea. The Royals paid Jones Lang LaSalle to write this report without caring or realizing that Jones Lang LaSalle had no experience with economic impact reports for ballparks or even sports venues. Even worse, the Royals didn't just pay Jones Lang LaSalle but they also “worked on the projections”.

One of the local leaders who helped draft the CBA is now outright stating that the Buffalo Bills are going against what is found in the CBA. It is difficult to see how she isn't correct here. The Bills would not stop talking about how much they would include the community when it comes to giving back to the area. Now? Shut up and take whatever it is that we give you. If the Bills think that these types of statements will allow them to invest more into the community, they have quite the surprise ahead of them.

Last week, the San Francisco 49ers publicly vowed to cover Santa Clara’s expenses for the World Cup games. The 49ers will use money that they received from their NFL operations to cover the costs. One estimate claims that it will cost Santa Clara about $50M to stage the games. Except, as the mayor reminded everyone, the 49ers promised to only cover all “approved costs”. That can be interpreted many ways, considering the terrible history between the 49ers and the mayor. Keep in mind that the people of Southern California have been told next to nothing about the local finances of hosting the World Cup. It was and is such a secret that even some Santa Clara City Council members were not allowed to look at several financial documents given to the city by FIFA. The mayor of Santa Clara told the San Francisco Chronicle last week that “she has not yet seen agreements for the World Cup”.

Even better, the money for the Baltimore Ravens will come from Maryland's state lottery funds, which “otherwise would go to the state’s general fund”. For those who don't know, the general fund for cities and states is the “predominant fund for financing a state's operations”. It is the primary operating fund of a government and accounts for activities including public safety, street maintenance, community services, police, fire, and other things. Thankfully, nobody cares about those activities. Who cares if the police and firefighters get paid nothing?

All the economic activity promises made by the Minnesota Vikings, when they were negotiating for a new stadium, have been completely incorrect. The mayor of Minneapolis made a public spectacle of how the Vikings new stadium had "encouraged Wells Fargo to relocate 5,000 jobs" near the venue. The relocation of these employees preceded the announcement of the new stadium deal. Therefore, no new jobs were being created from the creation of this new stadium. The Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, was very public in his support of getting something done with the Vikings. He touted the new stadium was the People's Stadium. After the stadium agreements were signed and construction began, the Governor realized the Vikings owners' minimal contribution to the stadium. He asked them to increase their personal stake, and they refused. He then asked the owners to please not price out normal fans who can't afford insane PSL prices. They again refused. Be aware that the Vikings owners do not want you or anyone to bring up this topic to them.

The Tampa Bay Rays are responsible for all cost overruns and have one of the cheapest and worst owners in all sports. So, it would make sense that Sternberg could be getting nervous and is trying to find any way possible to get out of this deal. One of the Rays team presidents, Silverman, not that long ago stated how the current deal may not be good for the Rays “in the context of Major League Baseball and fielding a competitive team for the next 30 years”. I do not understand the last part of this comment. Is he saying that this deal will not allow the team to compete moving forward? What? How? According to Auld, the Rays are frustrated at local leaders having fixed Tropicana Field with “only the bare minimum” repairs. Except, wait a second, who stopped the city from fixing the Rays ballpark months ago?

Residents of Harris County should pay attention to this part because “taxpayers will have to pitch in to close that gap”. You better because the Texans, a team worth over $6 billion, are “frustrated” at the “lack of maintenance”. When Houston got the Super Bowl in 2017, the team got angry at the county because of their refusal to pay for expensive upgrades that would just be used for the Super Bowl. Don't you worry though, as city leaders got Super Bowl tickets for free, rather than having to pay the $3,000-$4,000 required for a ticket. Some people have argued that the Texans do, in fact, pay $4 million in rent every year! Yes, and in seven of the last eight years, the team has gotten tax rebates that are worth more than their rent payment. How lucky. Houston also had two other sports venues for their NHL team and MLB team. Both of those venues allow the owner to upgrade whenever they want, but from their own pocket. These two venues also keep the revenue from all off-season events, which can be a financial help if properly used. 

Let's not forget the millions spent by taxpayers at the current home of New Mexico United. When KOAT, another local news station, got their hands on a lease agreement between the team and the city, they found if a stadium was built, there would be “a lot of taxes the New Mexico United soccer club will not have to pay”. Another subsidy would come from the team being allowed to deduct “equipment purchased in the construction” from their gross receipts tax bill. What else? We don't know, and the team won't show us. Naturally, they will have “details to share” with the public once an “agreement is in place”. How nice of them to show the public once the taxpayers can't do anything.

A few months into 2023, the Ilitch family decided that they had no gotten enough taxpayer money out of the city and state. So the city of Detroit gave them “significant savings on property taxes for the next 30 years”. You may be wondering why the city is giving them a tax break? Well, these tax savings, according to the city, will “be used to fund the development of the District Detroit project”. Excuse me? The project that the Ilitch family got millions for previously and did nothing? Some estimate that the total subsidy given to the Ilitch family totals $800M, which is half of the projects $1.5B cost. 

Buffalo Pro Soccer's owner, Peter Marlette, keeps urging the local government to make a decision immediately. In November of last year, Marlette talked about a supposed “time crunch” on the…

Do people remember how the San Antonio Spurs tried to get a new arena built in 1999? One of their brilliant proposals included a plan to take money away from elementary schools that were teaching children on an already bare-bones budget. Screw the kiddies! Build it! Furthermore, it wasn't that long ago when San Antonio taxpayers gave the team over $100 million dollars for a massive renovation of the arena. I wonder what happened to those upgrades. At the very least, let us be happy that the team wants to leave their current arena for the right reasons. Their current arena is falling apart. Oh, I am being told that it is far from falling apart and that it “could stay in operation for a few more decades”. Why does the team want to leave? Why else? A new arena “generates more income for a franchise”.

The new stadium has brought virtually nothing economically back to the city and therefore the stadium debt continues to account for more than almost 20% of Hamilton County's yearly budget. Did I mention that the lease agreement says that the stadium must be in a state-of-the-art condition? This means that every few years, Mike Brown will demand any number of new toys for his stadium, like a new scoreboard, and taxpayers are mandated to pay for them. Whenever this subject gets brought up, the team blames the county for trying “to hold somebody else responsible” for the agreement. Classy. Over the last few months, the Bengals and Hamilton County have been talking about either building a new stadium or upgrading the current one. But the county and its taxpayers seem hell-bent on forcing the team to pay for it this time.

In 2022, the State of New York and Eric County agreed to give the Buffalo Bills over $1 billion dollars of taxpayer money. Some have called this agreement “one of the worst stadium deals in recent memory”. It is not difficult to see why this deal is disastrous for taxpayers. The State of New York and Eric County are giving the “

Eventually, in 2018, an agreement between Maricopa County and the Arizona Diamondbacks was finalized that essentially allowed the team to take over all Chase Field maintenance in exchange for the opportunity to seek a new ballpark at another location. The team quickly fixed all of their issues with their wallet, right? No. What about those massive problems listed by the team? For some strange reason, after the team took over management of the ballpark, “hardly any stadium repairs” were done within the first few years. The team miraculously was able to make the ballpark work to start the next season without the $8 million dollars from the county or any of their other complaints being fixed. Then there are the threats. Every few years, the Diamondbacks threaten to leave the area. We have seen the team do it in 2015, 2017, 2019 and just this year. It always makes the team look good when they complain about a ballpark being “unsuitable for current use” because it isn't technically “state-of-the-art”. That will always win over the average fan who struggles to pay the increasing prices of attending sporting events.